To Kill a Beast
by lordofminastirith
Summary: The tale of a Necromancer as he endeavors to kill the Three.
1. Author's note and disclaimer

Summarized Disclaimer: If you recognize it, it isn't mine.

Full Disclaimer (read if you want): I do not own any of the characters, plots, or ideas expressed in this story. The characters and plots are the property of Blizzard Inc. The ideas I have taken from other authors on FanFiction. My thanks go to the authors who have supplied these ideas.

Author's Note: I do not enjoy any of the insignificant Author ramblings that I see on FanFiction. I intend to stay away from them, save for this first chapter. Please skip the following rant, unless you prefer to read it. Thank you and please _please_ tell me if I have misspelled anything. I will acknowledge any and all constructive criticism, and would enjoy having some plot ideas, or quest requests submitted, and I will do what I can to incorporate them into my writing. Please enjoy the story.

Lord of Minas Tirith


	2. Entering the Encampment

To Kill a Beast

By: Lord of Minas Tirith

Ch 1: Entering the Encampment

"Alexander? We're almost there."

I opened my eyes, and looked out the front of our wagon, grateful that I had chosen to sit in the front of our solitary wagon. I could see the walls of the Rogue's small encampment. I knew how they felt, having been forced from my home, as necromancy receives enmity where I used to live.

After I had been exiled from my home, I happened to see a group of warriors traveling in the company of skeletons. I decided to follow them. Eventually, I found myself in the city of Necropolis.

When I became seventeen, I managed to become an apprentice in the tutorage of a blacksmith. In my spare time, I studied the teachings of Rathma, until I could summon and maintain a skeletal warrior.

Soon after this, I left the city, and traveled west to the Rogue Citadel. It was there that I met and befriended not only the High Priestess Akara, but also the warrior who would later defeat Diablo beneath Tristram. I was unfortunate enough to have been present when that particular atrocity occurred. I had only returned because Akara had requested that I do so.

We entered the encampment, and someone came up to me, giving an idiotic spiel, telling me about the monsters in the wilderness, and the Rogues exile, both of which I already knew of, the former being painfully obvious. I discovered that his name was Warriv; I made a promise to myself that I would avoid him whenever possible. As soon as he was done jabbering, I sought out Akara, easy to identify in her purple hood and cape.

I slowed when I reached her tent, as I heard raised voices within.

"High Priestess, you cannot be serious. How can you ask an outsider, _him_ of all, to…to _help_ us! Do you not trust your own brethren?"

"Kaysha, our people have faced evil before. But not this much evil. We _must_ ask for help, from _this_ man. He has seen, and helped to defeat, Diablo himself! He is the only person alive who can save our monastery, by defeating Andarial. If you cannot allow this…"

At this point a woman, whom I can only assume is Kaysha, hit the side of the tent as she exited. She stopped when she saw me standing there.

"Go back to the hellhole from whence you were spawned" she spat, and then she continued on her way. I watched her leave, and then entered the tent. Akara looked up from her makeshift desk, and smiled.

"Alexander, thank you for coming. There are not enough warriors to help us in these dire times. I am sorry to say that I must ask you to leave, although I know you have just arrived. Before we can successfully mount an attack on Andarial's forces in the Monastery, we must find Deckard Cain. He is"

"I know who Cain is," I cut in, snapping at Akara, though I knew that it was not her fault for what happened in Tristram, "the last surviving Horadrim…" I paused, and then added, "We met in Tristram."

"Of course." She murmured.

"I will leave in the morning." As I exited the tent, I saw Kaysha approaching.

"We do not need nor want your kind here," she said, curtly. I sensed that Kaysha was not the type to get angry, "Prove to me that you should stay here," she spat, the contempt in her voice all too obvious.

"How?"

"Kill Blood Raven. Do not speak to me until you bring me the medallion she wears." Kaysha then turned on her heel and left.

"Kaysha! Where is she now?" I called after the retreating silhouette.

"Follow the path until you find the graveyard." She called back, quickly disappearing into the darkness of the night. I turned and set up my tent by Charsi the blacksmith's own tent, retiring for the night.

The next morning, I woke up and left the encampment. As we left, I felt apprehensive, though not afraid. The instant I had left the encampment, the Rogues slammed the gate shut behind me, making me feel on edge.

I followed the well-worn path for most of the day. As the darkness began to approach, it made it that much harder to see. I sheathed my sword, and drew my crossbow, readying a bolt in the niche.

Unexpectedly, I heard a noise, turned and fired. When the bolt found its mark, I could hear a high pitched squeal. I could only assume that it was dead. Approaching wearily, I stooped, and saw that I had killed a quill rat, a relatively harmless creature. Returning to my original route, I followed the dusty trail beneath my feet, until I came to a sort of gateway. Two walls of stone stretched into the distance, and had turned sharply, creating a choke-point in the wilderness.

Cautiously, I entered the man-made channel, and emerged unscathed on the other side, despite my worries. I took a few tentative steps, and stopped, startled because I felt stone beneath my feet. I backed away, and jumped when two small basins on opposite corners of the stone burst into blue flame.

"What the --?" I muttered, and stepped forward, curious at this new development. As I kneeled on the stone, I remembered seeing something like this in the encampment. As soon as I thought this, I felt weightless, almost as if I was underwater. I looked up, intending to continue on my search for Blood Raven, but instead found myself looking at Akara.

"How –," she stammered, "How did you get here?"

Bewildered, I told her, "I saw this in the wilderness, and the two basins on either end burst into blue flame. I kneeled down, and looked up to see you," She wasn't the only one who was confused.

"The waypoints were created by the Horadrim, placed around the world. They were intended for use to keep up with their task of banishing the Three. But I thought only they could use the waypoints," she said, gaining confidence with each word, "I wonder why we haven't been able to use them before?"

Thinking aloud, I murmured, "Maybe you haven't been able to use them because the waypoints were inactive for so long. It could be that you must first re-activate the waypoints before they can be used again."

"That must be it!" Akara exclaimed, "Please, if you find another waypoint, activate it, for both our welfare."

"Should I?" I questioned, "what if the demons infesting this land figured out how to use them?"

"That's not possible. HoradricScrolls told of an instance when Mephisto, Lord of Hatred, attempted to use the waypoints, and was almost destroyed. If one of the monstrosities tried to use the waypoints, they would surely be destroyed," she exclaimed, truly excited at the prospect of bypassing Andarial's minions, and entering her lair in the fourth level of the Rogue Catacombs.

After she uttered that, she turned and scurried back into her tent. I turned around, and returned to the encampment's waypoint. In my mind, I pictured the area around the first waypoint. Again, I felt the strange sensation of weightlessness. When I reopened my eyes, I was standing in the middle of the plain, the stone choke-point visible in the growing darkness.

Immediately, I sat down, and pulled out some parchment and a charcoal pencil. I jotted down a heading, thinking that I should keep a log of where these things were. Unfortunately, the area I was in had no name that I knew of.

"Cold Plains," I said aloud. That would be a good name for the area I was seeing around me, considering the heartless disposition of the land around me. I added it to my list, stood up, and returned to the path.

Presently, I came upon a fork, and sadly, there was no sign.

"Great. Where do I go now?" I muttered to myself. I took a guess and went right. Uneventfully, I came upon another strange stone gateway. Reluctantly, I passed through it.

When I came out on the other side, I viewed a wrought iron gateway. On the heading there was an unusual series of symbols. I figured Akara would know what they said. I resolved to ask her later. Warily, I passed under the arch. As soon as I was through, I heard a chilling voice, one that sent shivers down my back.

"Join my army of the dead."

As soon as the sentence was uttered, every grave around me exploded with arms and legs clawing to escape their earthy tomb. I looked past the erupting carnage, and saw a vile creature. Its clothes were tattered, flesh was hanging off its putrid limbs, and there were two white horns made of bone, sticking out of the back of its skull.

Blood Raven.

Quickly, I dodged her arrow, which was enchanted with fire, and ducked behind the nearest grave. I soon realized my mistake when I felt the rotting flesh of the corpse below me capture my limbs in a weak, but stubborn, bear hug.

As I struggled with the zombie, I heard a feral growling above me. I looked up and saw a wolf standing above me, teeth bared, ready to attack.

"This just keeps getting better and better," I mumbled aloud. I yelled when the beast leapt forward, but stopped when I discovered that it was attacking the zombie, not me.

When the undead was in several pieces, the wolf backed off, and ran off. I stood up, and saw two other wolves, along with the one that I had met, tearing apart the undead, with five ravens pecking at Blood Raven herself.

Off to the side, I saw a man in deep concentration, his orange hair clumping in the sweat of his efforts. His stance was unusual, his right leg in front of his left, knees bent, his hands thrust forward. From his hands came a stream of blue, freezing air. While momentarily startled, and also curious where this man came, I did not forget that I still had to kill Blood Raven.

This time, I did not hesitate when the undead came up; I swung my sword, and mercilessly decapitated my opponent. I continued my way over to where Blood Raven stood, firing arrows into the fray. I shot a few teeth, which were taken from the legendary dragon Alextresta, my namesake, to get her attention, and to lessen the hardship on my new companion's efforts. She turned and saw me, and fired a few arrows in my direction. I caught them on my shield; but as it was wooden, it began to burn. I dropped it, and began to run towards the unholy demon. As I drew near, I saw the last remnants of the noble soul Blood Raven had once been.

This caused me to hesitate, and almost immediately, the cold ruthlessness returned to her eyes, and she dropped her bow, drew a dagger, and stabbed my side once with the poisoned blade before I thrust my sword downwards with both hands on the hilt. I let go of the sword, and Blood Raven fell backwards, the hilt protruding from her head, like a third grotesque horn.

I pulled the dagger out of my side, wincing. I then went around to my sword, grabbed the hilt, and braced the head against my foot as I pulled my weapon free with a sickening squelch.

With my weapon no longer protruding from her head, Blood Raven's body disintegrated. I walked over to where the medallion was, and picked it up. It was a simple silver circle, with an equal-armed cross through it. The cross was the symbol of the Rogues, the vertical arm representing an undrawn bow, the horizontal, an arrow.

I placed the amulet in my knapsack, and fell forward onto a grave stone.

Errata: The "legendary dragon" mentioned in the fight with Blood Raven is named Alextresta for my personal reasons. The name is meant to provide a source for Alexander's own name.

Also, I must first apologize to anyone who might discover the ancient ruins of this story, for not updating. There are a number of reasons that it took as long as it did. First, I lost the manuscript that I had written out longhand. Second, I lost my computer; it was hit with a virus, and I lost everything. Third, I had no access to a computer to which I could copy and paste from I wish to tell you that I am currently working on a new chapter now, and hope to have it up by the 25th of March.


	3. Explanations and New Companions

Ch 2: Explanations and New Companions

I woke up, and got out of the bed.

"Unh," I changed my mind, and propped myself up against the headboard of the bed I was occupying.

"Nice to see you're still among the living," a voice said from the other side of the tent, startling me. I looked over, and I saw the same orange-haired man that I had seen in the graveyard.

"Sorry if my pets startled you back there. They can look pretty scary with one of them growling in your face. My name is Ulysses, and I'm the only druid I've seen since I've left the College at Scosglen."

"What is a druid?" I asked. So far as I know, the druids were a mythological religion.

"Druids are cousins of the Barbarians, whom I assume you know. In the ancient times, the founder of Druidism, known only as Fiacla-Géar, disagreed with the Barbarian leader, Bul-Kathos, although he did admit that his philosophy had merit. He took all who followed his ideals, and founded the Druidic College at Scosglen. He made a vow that the druids would not emerge from the college until the time of Judgment, the day the three escape their prisons to conquer the mortal realm."

"The Barbarian philosophy is plainly obvious," I said, "but what is the Druidic?"

"When Fiacla-Géar founded the college, his intent was to educate young men to be one with the earth. He believed that only by communicating with our animal brothers that we would be able to save this world.

"We have learned much from our feral brethren. We have learned to call wild beasts to come to our aid, to harness the power of our provider, Gaea, and even to change our own shape to mimic that of our brothers."

I had nothing to say to that speech, amazing as it was what the Druidic peoples have learned. It was possible that this man would be able to help me find Deckard Cain.

"From the gossip in the camp, I hear that you are trying to find Deckard Cain. Care for some help?"

"I would greatly appreciate you help; as soon as I am able to, I plan to search for him," I said, glad that I did not have to ask him to accompany me, as his skills would indubitably be essential.

"Then it's settled. Shall I fetch Akara?"

"No, with an understanding of death, there comes an understanding of how to prevent it. If you would please give me a few minutes."

Ulysses nodded, then rose and left the tent.

Despite my earlier comments, I continued to feel ill. Painstakingly, I rose, and put on my cotton shirt. I then exited the tent myself, walking over to Akara's pitiful abode.

When I reached Akara's tent, I saw Ulysses standing outside. Together, we entered her tent. Akara immediately began to speak, "Alexander, from speaking to other travelers in the encampment, it appears that Tristram is inaccessible from the rest of the countryside."

"Then how will we get there?" Ulysses interjected.

"I'm afraid I do not know you," Akara said questioningly, looking at Ulysses, "Will you be joining Alexander on this journey?"

"My name is Ulysses, High Priestess, and yes, I will also be searching for the Horadrim."

"I am pleased to meet you Ulysses. Alexander?"

Startled, I looked up; I had been thinking of an alternate route to the destroyed town. "Yes Akara?"

"Judging from your reaction, and the look on your face, you were trying to find a way to Tristram. I believe I know of one.

"In the case of emergency, the Horadrim erected the Cairn Stones, to be a form of travel in the instance the waypoints malfunctioned. By touching the five stones in a specific order, a portal would be opened to the desired location. With Tristram being above the tomb of Diablo, it would surely be included."

"But how do we know what order to touch the stones?" I asked. I didn't want to accidentally end up somewhere I didn't want to go, like home.

"When the quest for the three was complete, the Horadrim left a scroll with locations' combinations in an ancient tree, one that was said to have existed since the creation of the three terrestrial plains, heaven, earth, and hell.

"It is my belief that the ancient tree is the Tree of Yggdrasil, located on the other exit of a cave in the wilderness. I suggest you two make haste, as Diablo, after escaping, would indubitably try to hunt and eradicate any surviving Horadrim, as they know the secret to imprisoning him."

Upon hearing this, Ulysses and I stood up to leave, but Akara interrupted, "Alexander, please stay a moment longer."

I looked over at Ulysses, catching his gaze. In that one instant, we both realized that Akara had qualms about his accompanying me. He nodded, and left.

The instant he was out of hearing range, I turned to Akara, and accosted her with my own questions. "Akara, what was the meaning of that? Do you not think that I can judge the trustworthiness of a person myself?"

"Alexander, while I am not sure that we can completely trust this druid, that is not what I wanted to speak to you about." She stammered, unnerved at my sudden outburst.

Feeling better about the High Priestess's intentions, I asked her, "Then what was it?"

"While I cannot know with certainty what her reaction will be, be warned that Blood Raven was once a Rogue captain, just like Kaysha is now. The two were great friends, and Kaysha will indubitably begin grieving when you tell her of Blood Raven's death. It would not be wise to willingly give details of what occurred in the graveyard."

Momentarily stupefied, it then made sense, as Kaysha _was_ reluctant to talk of Blood Raven, and quick to leave her friend's would-be executioner, albeit it was, in the end, a mercy killing; the death of Blood Raven released her soul, to heaven or hell still remains unknown.

Finished talking, Akara motioned for me to leave.

I left, glad to be rid of her presence. Unlike most of my talks with her, this one had been fraught with anger, suspicion, and confusion; none of which should ever be experienced at the same time.

Returning to my own tent, I picked up my armor, and saw the blood stain, along with the gaping hole created from blood raven's knife. Looking at this, I knew that I would have to purchase a new set of armor. It would be a good time, as the damaged set was beginning to wear thin, as leather tends to do after much wear and tear.

I walked over to where Charsi was working on a sword; the heat from the forge and from the sword made her bronze skin glisten with sweat as she folded the smoldering metal.

"Good day Charsi!" I shouted over the banging of her hammer, "My chest plate was damaged in my excursion yesterday. Would you perchance have any new armor?" I inquired of the Rogue blacksmith.

Charsi discontinued her efforts with the blade, arching her back to release the tension from working so hard.

"Good day to you too, Alexander. You've been here before; you know where I keep my wares. Just tell me what you want and pay once you have made your selection," She said with a smile, while pulling her hair back and tying it with a scrap of cloth.

Smiling myself, I went back and selected a new set of ring mail. I went up to the anvil and yelled "Boo!" in her ear. She screamed aloud and jumped almost a cubit in the air. After she landed, she turned and swung the hammer at my head, I ducked while asking how much the mail was.

"Just for scaring me, I'm going to have to charge extra. But as you get a friend's discount, it evens out to seventy-two coins," she pronounced, smiling devilishly.

"An outrage, a scandal," I muttered, while digging out my coin pouch, "and I never heard of you giving a discount to anyone, not even the Rogues themselves."

"Oh scat you bothersome welch. I have work to do," she said. I paid her, and left for my tent.

When I got there, I saw Ulysses sitting on my cot. "Akara doesn't trust me?" he asked.

"While I admit she does not, that is not why she asked me to stay. She wanted to warn me about Kasha's possible reaction to hearing that Blood Raven was dead." I said, while putting down my armor. I walked over and sat down next to him on the cot.

"Do you want me to accompany you?" he asked.

"It would not be right if you did not," I replied.

Together, we left, and sought out Kaysha. We found her supervising the replacement of the guards on the wall of the encampment.

"Kaysha!" I yelled, though not loudly enough to disturb her supervision if she elected not to talk to us.

Kaysha turned, and when she saw me, her eyes narrowed and her lips pressed together. "What do you want?" she said. I could tell there was a hint of despair in her statement.

Wordlessly, I pulled out the amulet. As soon as she looked at it, her eyes began to tear, though her face could have been stone. Without speaking, she took the amulet, and left. We did not follow.

After watching her leave, I said that I had to return to my tent for a few minutes, and then we could leave in search for the Tree of Yggdrasil. He nodded, and then I lift for my tent.

When I entered, I went over to my armor, and placed it by the cot. I sat down and put on my boots, then stood up and reached for my new armor. I put it on; glad to have the weight knowing that I was safer with it on. I put on my gloves, checked my belt, and grabbed my crossbow and sword. I put the crossbow on my back, and left.

Errata: While I recognize that the tree mentioned is named Inifuss, I changed the name for my own reasons. Yggdrasil is the tree that connects the nine worlds in Norse Mythology. (Check it).


	4. In Search of Deckard Cain

Chapter 3: In Search of Deckard Cain

As I reached the gate, Ulysses came up from behind and walked with me, keeping pace.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

"As ready as I will ever be," I replied.

When we had exited the encampment, the Rogues slammed the gate shut, the same as the last time I had passed through them. We started down the path, following the worn trail until we came upon the man-made channel I had come across earlier.

Together, we drew our weapons, readying them in front of us. We exchanged glances, and walked into the chokepoint. When we emerged on the other side, we looked over towards each other, and broke into laughter; we had been on-edge over nothing. When we had caught our breath, Ulysses strode over to the waypoint. Examining it, he recorded a picture of it in his mind, thus enabling both of us to use the waypoints. He stood up and motioned that we should leave. I was strangely distraught at this gesture; it had seemed that he was joining me, not the reverse. However, I did follow him.

Eventually we came upon the crossroads. We knew that right led to the Rogue's graveyard, so we took the other fork, going left.

As we continued walking we began to relax, unwise as the wilderness becomes more dangerous by night.

"What was that?" Ulysses asked.

"What? Did you hear something?"

Twang! Twang! The sound of a bow filled the air. We looked in the direction of the sound, and then took off running. We came upon a Rogue, firing into a fray of Fallen while dodging their attacks.

Ulysses shouted to the Rogue and me to attack the shamans, as they resurrect the smaller ones.

The Rogue turned her fire to the taller among the enemy, while Ulysses and I flung ourselves into the mass of Fallen, stabbing and hacking our way towards the shamans, decimating the easily slain Fallen.

With a shout, I dodged one of the shaman's fire attacks, and plunged my sword into its chest. I pulled it out and turned to look for the next shaman, when I heard a strange sound. I looked around, trying to locate the noise. A cry escaped my lips as I was hit sharply in the back with a wooden club. I backed off, and looked behind me. Standing there was the shaman that I had just slain! I ran from it, not wanting to be hit with one of its fireballs.

"What could be keeping these things alive?" I shouted to the other two fighting with me.

"It's the green one, over there!" the rogue shouted back. I looked over and saw the head shaman. Before I could react, an arrow was growing out of its neck. The creature fell, and did not get up again. I turned to the other shamans, and began swinging my sword at them. I was pleased to see them die, and _stay_ dead. Once the shamans were taken care of, the remaining fallen were easily exterminated.

When the last of the demons had been slain, I looked around for the Rogue, but didn't see her. I shrugged and turned in the direction of the path to continue our search for the ancient tree.

"_Captain, something is amiss in the Catacombs!" "Don't tell Akara yet, I'll take a look myself". I headed down the stairs…why? The hole in the floor. How could I have known? I go down, I see the Maiden of Anguish. Why did I continue, did I not know there would be horror? If only I knew what abomination I would see. I turned and ran. Blood Raven. Genina. All of them. Mindless, blank stares. I tried to stop them, I tried. Must tell Akara. Must tell…_

Kaysha awoke, simultaneously drawing her dagger and raising her shield, readying them to face whatever attacker there was in her tent.

"Captain, Akara calls for your presence immediately." Flavie stammered, fully frightened by the knife at her throat.

Kaysha nodded, and motioned for Flavie to leave. Once she was gone, Kaysha put on her armor, and left to see what Akara needed to speak so urgently about.

"Griswold, can you not hear me? We must escape this accursed town. I will explain all as we escape!" exclaimed Deckard Cain, in a futile attempt to save the last survivor of the horrors Diablo brought in his wake.

Deckard turned, to look at Griswold, and immediately wished that he had not. Seeing his last friend's countenance sent Cain into despair; one that is felt only by those who have no further reason, no will, to continue life.

Diablo had stretched and torn the face of Tristram's blacksmith. The skin bubbled, as if being boiled, and what remained of the body had been deformed by metal hooks and chains, effectively destroying what remained of Griswold's humanity. His clothes were but rags, hanging precariously off his bloated form.

Deckard Cain gave no resistance as rough demonic hands grasped him, and unmercifully shoved him into a cage. Deckard cried openly at the sight of his destroyed town as the cage was hoisted up into the air. "I should have told them. I should have told them…"

"You think these are the Cairn Stones Akara mentioned?" Ulysses asked. We had come across a small group of fallen without a shaman on our way to the Tree of Yggdrasil. We pursued them until they lay slain on the ground. On our return to the path, we had come across six stone pillars in the surroundings.

"They look like it don't they," I mused, "Still; they are useless until we know what sequence in which to activate the stones."

He nodded, and we continue along the path. Presently, we came upon a cave, dug into the cliff wall. We met eyes, and then simultaneously entered the cave. As we entered, it was evident that the cave was man-made; the entrance was met with a staircase that led down into the main chamber. Wearily, we made our way through the cave.

"Did you hear that?" Ulysses asked.

"I did," I said. The noise sounded like creaking wood. We fell silent, doing the best we could to muffle our footsteps as we moved toward the sound. We saw a fallen shaman standing in a fire, committing some demonic rite. Standing around him were hundreds of fallen warriors. The creaking was caused by a few wooden giblets, each containing a decaying corpse.

Unconsciously we took a step away from the horrific scent. Our retreat was foiled when I noted a crunching sound from under my foot. I looked down to see the remains of a human skull; I had stepped on it in our backwards retreat. I looked back at the fallen horde, and saw all of the warriors begin to run towards us, each eager to replace one of the hanging bodies with a fresh victim. We turned and ran, knowing that we did not have a chance of defeating the innumerable foes. As we ran, I could hear their war cry, "Rakanishu!" With each utterance, the mass became more frenzied, and began to run faster.

We ran, but while we were dodging the occasional thrust of a crude knife or flying fireball, we realized that there was no chance of escape. Unexpectedly I heard a feral growling ahead of me, and moved to avoid being tackled by the five wolves running towards us. As they crashed into the fallen, I shouted to Ulysses, "I hope they're yours!"

"No worries!" he shouted back, grinning as he spoke. Occasionally, I would see him perform some foreign movements as we ran. When he completed each sequence, I would see another wolf charging into the fray.

Sooner than expected, we emerged from the exit of the cave tunnel. We turned, and the Druid sent a molten boulder into the cave. As it hit the front of the fallen mass, it exploded. He dove for cover, and as I realized what the explosion would do, I followed suit. As I hit the ground, the cave began to collapse from the cracks formed by the exploding boulder. When the dust settled, I could still see what little daylight there was left through the cracks in the rubble.

I unburied my body, straining to do so, and stood up, looking around for Ulysses. I heard a grunt, and looked as a relatively large rock tumbled to the ground. Where the rock was, now stood Ulysses. He clambered out of the rock pile, and I was surprised to see five wolves follow him out. I figured they must have run out of the cave before the boulder exploded. He whistled, and the canines ran off into the surrounding forest.

After climbing out of the rubble myself, I said, "Nothing like running through a cave, away from hundreds of evil pygmies, trying to find a way out before they carve you up and roast you for dinner to get the blood pumping. Shall we?" I finished, motioning to leave.

"Lead on," he said in reply, motioning that I should go ahead myself. I nodded, and sauntered down the path leading away from the cave, and into the foreboding darkness of the forest.

_A chilling voice emanated from the depths of the Catacombs. "Gather my slaves. Ready them to attack their brethren."_

_After the order, he monotony of life in the Rogue Citadel changed; the Smith used his Malus instead of his customary hammer, and Fallen everywhere scurried about on their errands._

"Captain! Scouts have reported a massing of our fallen bretheren in the Citadel! Almost all of the demons in the wilderness are gone!" Genevia shouted as she burst into Kasha's tent.

"What!" she exclaimed, jumping from her desk, "Are you sure?"

"Yes captain. Should I order the fortification of the walls?"

"Yes. You do that," she said. When Genevia had left, Kaysha scurried out of her tent muttering, "I must warn Akara."

"Its getting late and we haven't found a waypoint. We should probably retire for the night," I said, stopping, "Unless you care to trek back to that cave?" I added, knowing full well that we weren't going back.

Errata: I realize that the tree is Inifuss; I changed it for my own purposes.

Author's note: I do apologize for taking longer than expected in updating this story; I had a fifteen-piece compilation project for English, and now I must memorize my lines for Romeo, that being produced by my English class. (Curse that teacher.) Do not expect another update until mid to late April.

In response to a review, I had not been intending to create "matchups" though I will certainly try in later chapters. No guarantee, if/when they are made.


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